Fire Season Begins June 8th on DFPA Protected Land

The Douglas Forest Protective Association announced that the 2016 fire season will officially begin Wednesday, June 8th at 12:01 a.m. on all private, county, state, and BLM lands protected by DFPA. The declaration of fire season imposes certain fire restrictions on both the general public and industrial forest workers to help prevent wildfires.

With the declaration of fire season, exploding targets, tracer ammunition, and sky lanterns are prohibited on, or within, one-eighth of a mile of DFPA protected land.

The start of fire season also means the end of unregulated outside debris burning for rural Douglas County residents. Due to poor burning conditions which have come earlier this year than normal, burn permits for debris piles and burn barrels will not be issued by DFPA or Douglas County Fire District #2. Those wishing to burn yard debris before Wednesday are encouraged to exercise caution and are reminded to never leave the burn unattended. In addition, fire officials recommend checking any debris piles that were burned earlier this spring. If not properly extinguished, burn piles have the potential of smoldering for weeks, or even months, before popping back to life on a warm, windy day.

Fire season also means the start of industrial fire regulations. On Wednesday, the entire Douglas District will go into Industrial Fire Precaution Level I (one.) During IFPL I, smoking is prohibited while working on, or traveling through, an industrial operation. In addition, specified fire tools and suppression equipment must be on site and ready for use at all operations. A fire watch service is also required once work has completed for the day.

As fire season progresses, additional public and industrial restrictions may be imposed as fire conditions become more severe.

For more information about public or industrial restrictions on lands protected by DFPA, call DFPA’s Closure Information Line at 672-0379, or visit www.dfpa.net. An interactive map with state wide fire restrictions can also be viewed online at www.oregon.gov/ODF/Fire/Pages/Restrictions.aspx